"Warrior of… Sunlight?"
Leon repeated the strange name slowly. He knew what the sun was—it hung in the sky, blazing over all—but what exactly was a Warrior of Sunlight supposed to be?
It sounded like someone who treated the sun as their faith. Almost like the Holy Light Church, who always called their knights "Holy Light Knights."
For some reason, an image surfaced in his mind: that moment by the bonfire, when he had glimpsed Gwyn, Lord of Cinder.
Could this be connected to him—no, to Him?
Leon's thoughts wandered to Drew. The man had rushed off to the Magic Association in the nearby city the instant he revived, without even stopping to rest. Leon worried he might collapse before getting there.
But Leon himself was desperate to understand what that bonfire vision had truly meant.
"Explain it in detail," he pressed.
Maru nodded and began her recount.
"Lately, there's been this item going around—Furlcalling Finger Remedy. In the Swamp, there's a spot where you can reliably gather five or six of them per run. I even tracked down the location myself."
A smug little smile tugged at her lips.
"They say that if you use it inside the dungeon, golden and red summoning sigils appear. The golden ones summon Assistants, who'll join you temporarily to explore the dungeon. The red ones bring out Warriors—but once they show up, you're forced to fight them."
Leon frowned deeply. Who in their right mind would summon hostile opponents in a dungeon this lethal? Did they want to die faster?
"Wait, wait—let me get this straight."
He rubbed his brow, trying to untangle it.
"So these Assistants and Warriors… are they actual living people, or something else? Why would they agree to help, or fight? What's in it for them? And those summoning marks—how do they leave them behind? Some kind of special tool?"
Maru opened her mouth, then shut it again, cheeks puffing with irritation.
"How would I know all that?!"
Leon raised his hands in surrender. "You sounded so confident, I thought you had the answers."
Maru flopped onto the sofa with an exasperated sigh.
"I only found out about this a little earlier than you, Boss. How should I know their reasons, or what items they're using?"
She paused, then added more seriously:
"But one thing's certain—those people are real. Flesh and blood."
Leon arched a brow. "And how do you know that?"
"Because plenty of adventurers have met their Assistants outside the dungeon afterward."
She tapped her chin, recalling.
"There's this elf—Stella. She's been getting a lot of attention lately. She's one of the Warriors of Sunlight. Word is, the news about Furlcalling Finger Remedy spread because of her."
"Stella…?"
(***)
Stella sat by the gates of a fortress deep in the Swamp region, perched on a small folding stool she had carried there herself.
At her feet glowed a radiant golden summoning sigil, waiting patiently for someone to call her forth.
A short blade hung at her waist, while a longbow and quiver rested across her back. She wore her old adventuring gear again—practical and familiar. The only new addition was a bronze medallion pinned to her chest, etched with the image of a sun bearing a human face.
The sun's expression was solemn, almost austere, though the artwork itself looked somewhat abstract.
This medallion marked her as a Warrior of Sunlight.
And Stella was the first of them, born here within Sein Dungeon.
It had all begun not long ago.
After reuniting with Maldron, she later heard from her companions about the Gourmet Zone. Soon, crowds began flooding the place, and commissions soared. Naturally, her team took on many of them. For a while, they stayed busy clearing quests and earning good money.
But when Stella finally had time to seek Maldron again, she couldn't find his summoning mark anywhere.
Ever since she'd delivered the magical materials he requested, he had vanished. Not once had she seen him since. The thought left her strangely hollow.
Still, Maldron had always been a wanderer. Most likely, he had left Bedford City to pursue other adventures.
Reluctant though she was, she accepted it as fate—hoping they might cross paths again one day.
So she and her squad turned back to exploring the dungeon's mid-layers. But their strength wasn't enough. One by one, they fell prey to bizarre, frustrating deaths.
Like being swarmed by a massive white ape and several dual-wielding monkeys.
Or spotting a cute little yellow mouse-like creature—only to be fried instantly by a hundred thousand volts.
Or defeating a strange, plump black monster—only to die at the same time, thanks to a Gengar's Destiny Bond.
Death after death dragged them into despair.
They simply couldn't win.
The only path forward seemed to be leveling up at the bonfires. But there lay another problem.
Wade's stat design was too balanced. For mid-tier adventurers like Stella, leveling up meant solo-clearing the entire Swamp region of monsters, plus taking down a few hulking "Infested Barbarians" from Blighttown.
Yet at barely level 10, Stella was already hitting a wall.
The deeper layers offered better soul drops—a single dual-wielding white ape was worth two Infested Barbarians. But what good was that if they couldn't survive long enough to cash in?
Every death reset their souls to zero. Unlike in games, there was no retrieving them.
Rarely did they manage to bring back enough to grow stronger. More often, they died before ever reaching a bonfire.
It was a vicious, endless cycle.
But recently, Stella had stumbled upon something new.
Separated from her companions during an expedition, she wandered to a cliff's edge overlooking the forest.
From there, she saw the sun rise.
She knew it was nothing but a dungeon illusion, yet as its rays cut through the clouds and bathed her in light, she felt warmth, majesty, and something far greater than herself. A yearning for the sun welled up inside her.
She remembered Maldron's words: "Praise the Sun!"—something about sunshine.
He had said it was a phrase beloved by a hero he once knew.
That those who worshipped the sun were always good people. They helped others, gave hope to the desperate, and longed to become like the sun itself—warming others with their light and strength.
Back then, she had wondered if Maldron helped her because he too was one of them. She never asked.
Now, at that cliff, she discovered an altar. Its statue had long since crumbled, the figure unrecognizable. But as she drew near, glowing text appeared before her:
[Do you wish to form a covenant and become a Warrior of Sunlight?]
Confused but compelled, she answered Yes.
A Sun Medallion materialized in her hand, along with a desiccated Furlcalling Finger. With it, she could inscribe summoning marks, waiting for others to call her.
To Stella, this confirmed it—Maldron must have been a Warrior of Sunlight too.
Even if she never saw him again, she still remembered how he once reached out to her.
And so, she decided: if she could not find him, then she would become like him. She would help others.
She drew her summoning mark before the twin gargoyle gates, offering her strength to adventurers struggling against that trial.
And then, she made a thrilling discovery—
Every time she helped someone defeat a boss, she received an enormous bounty of souls.